Rabbi Kamenetsky was renowned as "Chakima D'Yehudai", the wise man of the Jews. Aside from his extensive Torah scholarship, he was known for his ever-present warm smile and his expertise in Hebrew grammar.

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Rabbi Kamenetsky's first wife was Rebbetzin Ita Ettil Kamenetsky, who died on July 9, 1954. In 1958, Rabbi Kamenetsky married Chana Urman of Toronto. The mesader kidushin for Rabbi Kamenetsky's marriage to Rebbetzin Chana Kamenetsky was his close friend and colleague, Rabbi Zelik Epstein. Rebbetzin Chana Kamenetsky died shortly after her husband in 1986.

Dozens of his descendants serve in key leadership positions across North America in other countries. They include: Rabbis Mordechai Kamenetzky, Dean of the Yeshiva of South Shore, Shalom Kamenetsky, Rosh Yeshivas Philadelphia, Avraham Kamenetsky, R"M in Yeshivas Beis Yisrael in Jerusalem, Yosef Kamenetsky, Rosh Kollel in Moscow, Zvi Kamenetzky, Dean of the Dwek Ohr HaEmet Sephardic Academy of Toronto, and Yitzchak Shurin, Dean of Midreshet Rachel-Shappell's. His grandson Dov Shurin is a singer-songwriter and musician.